[EL] Breaking: SCOTUS will hear Gov. McDonnell appeal; more news

Fri Jan 15 15:14:05 PST 2016

Hello all –

The news on the Supreme Court’s decision to hear Gov. McDonnell’s appeal is important.   I hope folks focus on the last piece of the question on which cert was granted.  It suggests the possibility that certain interpretations of the Hobbs Act/honest services fraud statute may be unconstitutional.  Given how “official action” has been defined by the Supreme Court and federal appeals courts, there is a pretty strong argument that Gov. McDonnell’s conviction is quite run of the mill.  Consequently, the focus may fall on whether the Court is willing to declare some official acts covered under the statutes to be too deminimis to support the amount of prison time that Hobbs Act and honest services fraud convictions can trigger.  For a deeper look into the McDonnell case, feel free to check out a relatively short piece of mine: Henry L. Chambers, Jr., The McDonnell Case: A Clarification of Corruption Law or a Confusing Application of Corruption Law, 50 U. Rich. L. Rev. 237 (2015).

Frankly, $100,000 in the freezer or not, Rep. Jefferson might have a serious beef if the Court decides that a broad interpretation of “official act” is unconstitutional.

-Hank

Henry L. Chambers, Jr.
Professor of Law
University of Richmond School of Law
28 Westhampton Way
Richmond, Va. 23173
(804) 289-8199
hchamber at richmond.edu

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Rick Hasen
Sent: Friday, January 15, 2016 4:12 PM
To: law-election at UCI.edu
Subject: [EL] Breaking: SCOTUS will hear Gov. McDonnell appeal; more news

Breaking: #SCOTUS Will Hear Gov. McDonnell’s Corruption Appeal<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79051>
Posted on January 15, 2016 1:00 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79051> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Supreme Court will hear<http://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/011516zr_l5gm.pdf> Gov. McDonnell’s appeal. It was pretty likely<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78889> the Court would do this once it allowed the former governor to stay out of jail <http://www.bna.com/former-va-gov-b17179935280/> pending a decision on the cert. petition. The Court would not have done that unless it was very likely to hear the case.

The Court limited the grant to the first question in the cert. petition<http://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/McDonnell-petition-10-13-15.pdf> (the second was on a jury issue), and that question reads:

I. Under the federal bribery statute, Hobbs Act, and honest-services fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. §§ 201, 1346, 1951, it is a felony to agree to take “official action” in exchange for money, campaign contributions, or any other thing of value. The question presented is whether “official action” is limited to exercising actual governmental power, threatening to exercise such power, or pressuring others to exercise such power, and whether the jury must be so instructed; or, if not so limited, whether the Hobbs Act and honest-services fraud statute are unconstitutional.

[This post is in progress]

The question presented in this case differs from some of the other recent high profile corruption prosecutions, from Gov. Blagojevich to Gov. Seligman to Gov. Rick Perry to John Edwards to Tom DeLay. But as I’ve argued<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=64361>, there’s a strong necessity of clear rules to deal with the danger of overzealous prosecutions and the “criminalization of politics.” As I wrote earlier about Perry:

Perry joins the list of other politicians prosecuted under controversial or dubious theories, including Tom DeLay, John Edwards, Scott Walker<http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2014/06/the_scott_walker_case_in_wisconsin_could_shred_the_remaining_limits_on_influencing.html>, Don Siegelman, and Ted Stevens. Some go to jail; some don’t. Some get convicted by juries; some don’t.  Some have their prosecutions overturned on appeal; some don’t.

The common thread here is the criminalization of politics. As I wrote about DeLay<http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2013/09/tom_delay_s_conviction_reversed_on_appeal.html>:

Some liberals are no doubt disappointed to hear that a Texas appellate court today, on a 2-1 vote, reversed the conviction<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55380> of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. They shouldn’t be. There were good reasons to think<http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2012/04/john_edwards_should_not_be_prosecuted_for_campaign_finance_violations_.html> that DeLay’s prosecution in Texas for violations of state campaign finance law, like the federal prosecutions of former presidential candidate John Edwards<http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2012/04/john_edwards_should_not_be_prosecuted_for_campaign_finance_violations_.html> and former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, involved politically motivated charges brought by overzealous prosecutors.

And I wrote about Edwards<http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2012/04/john_edwards_should_not_be_prosecuted_for_campaign_finance_violations_.html>:

We don’t know whether these prosecutions were politically motivated or not, and of course each of these defendants has every incentive to make such claims. But the point is that when judges allow prosecutors to rely on novel legal theories in these sorts of cases, they open up the possibility of politically motivated prosecutions. Better to leave the criminal cases to clear violations of the law, such asRep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham’s yacht bribe<http://articles.cnn.com/2005-11-28/politics/cunningham_1_mzm-mitchell-wade-tax-evasion?_s=PM:POLITICS> or Rep. William Jefferson’s $10,000 stash hidden in his freezer<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/22/washington/22jefferson.html?_r=1%26hp%26ex=1148270400%26en=2bc01901bdbff48e%26ei=5094%26partner=homepage%26oref=slogin>. If prosecutors can’t produce clear-cut charges, politicians and their campaigns should only face the potential for civil liability.

Second, even if prosecutors are well-meaning and looking out solely for the public interest, there’s a fundamental unfairness in subjecting politicians to criminal liability for uncertain violations of campaign finance law. The threat of criminal liability can ruin a political career. Look at the overreaching<http://articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/20/opinion/la-ed-stevens-20120320> by federal prosecutors in the trial of Ted Stevens; the Justice Department’s attorneys were so hungry to get the Republican senator from Alaska, they withheld key exculpatory evidence from the defense.

Thanks to expansive federal law, the threat of criminal liability hangs over all elected officials, federal, state, and local. As professors Rick Pildes and Sam Issacharoff explain in their amicus brief<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/amicusseieglmanfinal.pdf> in the Siegelman case, “Federal anticorruption criminal prosecutions of state and local political officials have skyrocketed since the early 1980s. Before 1980, there were never more than 200 such prosecutions in a single year, but since 1985, there have been more than 900 prosecutions in a peak year and an average of more than 600.”
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D79051&title=Breaking%3A%20%23SCOTUS%20Will%20Hear%20Gov.%20McDonnell%26%238217%3Bs%20Corruption%20Appeal&description=>
Posted in bribery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=54>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
“Which members of Congress become lobbyists? The ones with the most power. Here’s the data.”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79049>
Posted on January 15, 2016 11:47 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79049> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Jeffrey Lazarus<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/01/15/which-members-of-congress-become-lobbyists-the-ones-with-the-most-power-heres-the-data/> at the Monkey Cage.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D79049&title=%26%238220%3BWhich%20members%20of%20Congress%20become%20lobbyists%3F%20The%20ones%20with%20the%20most%20power.%20Here%E2%80%99s%20the%20data.%26%238221%3B&description=>
Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, legislation and legislatures<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27>, lobbying<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>
“We Have Our First Lawsuit Over Ted Cruz’s Eligibility — And It’s A Doozy”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79047>
Posted on January 15, 2016 9:08 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79047> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

TPM reports<http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/cruz-lawsuit-birth-challenge> (with link to complaint<https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4rblq-fxqLac2FWR0tPWlNpcEx3ajBtNVdvVnpXakowbzhN/view>).
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D79047&title=%26%238220%3BWe%20Have%20Our%20First%20Lawsuit%20Over%20Ted%20Cruz%26%238217%3Bs%20Eligibility%20%26%238212%3B%20And%20It%26%238217%3Bs%20A%20Doozy%26%238221%3B&description=>
Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“How Obama Made This Congressman’s Day”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79045>
Posted on January 15, 2016 8:18 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79045> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

HuffPo<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/john-sarbanes-campaign-finance-reform_56982266e4b0ce496423f1b1>:

You could forgive Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) if he celebrated a little during President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address.

That’s because when Obama came to what he said was perhaps his most important point, it sounded an awful lot like a plan Sarbanes has been developing for years: a way to make regular citizens feel like they have a say in politics again.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D79045&title=%26%238220%3BHow%20Obama%20Made%20This%20Congressman%26%238217%3Bs%20Day%26%238221%3B&description=>
Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

--

Rick Hasen

Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science

UC Irvine School of Law

401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000

Irvine, CA 92697-8000

949.824.3072 - office

949.824.0495 - fax

rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>

http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/

http://electionlawblog.org
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